“If he is thinking of a new challenge there is no better place to be than here.”

Players don’t come out and make statements like that unless it part of an orchestrated campaign to get a player.

The writing has been on the wall at United for a while know that Rooney was on his way out of Old Trafford despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s statements to the contrary.

I wrote last month that Paris Saint Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had been linked with a move to Juventus and that deal would have a domino effect with Rooney going to PSG and Cristiano Ronaldo to Man United.

The rumours last week suggest that United have landed Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao for potentially €40m plus Javier Hernandez.

I don’t see a Falcao deal ending United’s interest in Ronaldo. From a financial standpoint, Rooney is United’s highest wage earner, so replacing his wages with those of Falcao’s is in essence a straight swap. And with the added revenue United has gotten for selling the naming rights to its training ground plus the added revenue from the new TV deal, United could add Ronaldo without putting their wage bill over 50% of turnover.

It’s a long way until August 31st when the transfer window closes, but United fans will be dreaming of an attacking force of Kagawa, Ronaldo, van Persie and Falcao. That would be as good as anyone in Europe never mind the Premier League.